Portable data terminals (PDTs) are a type of data collection devices used to collect, interpret, process, and ultimately transfer data to a larger data processing system. PDTs generally integrate a mobile computer, an alpha-numeric or numeric keypad, and at least one data acquisition device. The mobile computer portion is generally similar to known touch screen consumer oriented portable computing devices (e.g. “Pocket PCs” or “PDAs”), such as those available from PALM, HEWLETT PACKARD, and DELL. It is to be noted that PDTs differ from consumer oriented portable computing devices through the integration of more durable or “industrial” versions of their constituent components. The data acquisition device generally comprises a device that captures data from an encoded source, for example, radio frequency IDs (RFID), images, and bar codes. Additional data acquisition devices may also be provided, notably, most PDTs have an integrated keypad. A PDT may also integrate one or more wireless communication technologies, such as GSM, CDMA, 802.11 and BLUETOOTH. PDTs tend to provide improved power performance by utilizing superior batteries and power management circuits. PDTs are available from several sources, including the assignee of the present application: HAND HELD PRODUCTS. INC.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,918 issued Sep. 1, 1998, incorporated herein by reference, was the first to describe an ergonomic housing for a PDT having a finger saddle defined between the front portion and the rear portion. A finger saddle receives an operator's finger and enables the housing to be comfortably held in an operator's hand when the operator's hand is in a naturally relaxed position. FIG. 1 is an illustration of the PDT described in the '918 patent.
The PDT 11 has a generally rectangular housing, generally indicated as 12, which both protects the internal component from the elements and abuse associated with use, and determines the ergonomic and functional interaction with the operator. The housing 12 has an upper surface 14 and a lower surface 16. The upper surface 14 has a generally rectangular configuration in top plan view with a generally planar upper-most surface.
The upper surface 14 generally provides access to interface components of the PDT 11, including a data acquisition initiation key 18 (e.g. scan key); a display 20 and key pad 22. Additionally, a thumb rest 39 may be provided.
The lower surface 16 generally provides a finger saddle 28 and access to a battery pack 34. The shape of the housing of the battery pack 34 is integrated with the rear of the lower surface 16—behind the finger saddle 28. The finger saddle 28 is formed between a front portion 24 and a rear portion 26 of the housing generally forward of the battery pack 34. As shown, the finger saddle 28 has a generally U-shaped configuration which forms a channel across the housing 12 generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis X of the housing, so as to separate the front portion 24 and the rear portion 26. The finger saddle 28 also has a second U-shaped configuration parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing 12 and conforms to the natural contour of an operator's relaxed finger.
The combination of the two U-shapes allows the finger saddle 28 to comfortably receive an operator's finger when the hand of the operator is in its naturally relaxed position. The aspect of the U-shaped configuration which is parallel to the longitudinal axis X of the housing 12 allows the finger saddle 28 to be tapered along the sides of the housing to provide beveled portions 35, making the interaction between an operator's hand and the housing more comfortable. This ergonomic feature helps to reduce hand and wrist fatigue, thereby improving the overall comfort of the housing.
Finger saddles, in accordance with those described in the '918 patent are now a common feature on a variety of PDTs. For example, the SYMBOL model MC3070 incorporates a finger saddle formed by a lower housing and a battery compartment door. However, since the inception of the finger saddle, the technology in and around PDTs has advanced significantly. For example, current PDTs incorporate larger full color displays with integrated touch screens. Also an ever increasing number of radio communication devices, such as GSM and Wi-Fi are integrated into current PDTs. It is further expected that form factors will be reduced from generation to generation. This will further increase the challenge of providing a device incorporating ergonomic features such as finger saddles.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a known PDT 200 having a more current configuration as compared with the PDT 11 shown in FIG. 1. A central processing unit (CPU) 202 receives data from and outputs data to other sub-systems for storage, transmission and additional processing. The CPU 202 typically comprises one or more of a number of off the shelf solutions including: embedded processors, such as an XSCALE processor available from INTEL; general purpose processors, such as a PENTIUM 4 available from INTEL; or any number of custom solutions including pre-configured field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Overall operation of the CPU 202 is controlled by software or firmware (typically referred to as an operating system) stored in one or more memory locations 205n, including RAM 205a and FLASH memory 205b. Examples of suitable operating systems for the PDT 200 include graphical user interfaces such as WINDOWS MOBIL, WINDOWS CE, WINDOWS XP, LINUX, PALM, and OSX.
In general, communication to and from the CPU 202 and among the various sub-components takes place via one or more ports or busses, including a main system bus 204; a plurality of Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) ports 206n; and a Dual Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (DUART) 210.
A variety of secondary processors may be provided to perform general and application specific functions. The example illustrated in FIG. 2 provides three such processors: a field programmable gate array (FPGA) 212; an auxiliary processor 214; and an LCD controller 216. The FPGA 212 may comprise any number of FPGAs including the Virtex-4 family of FPGAs available from XILINX. The FPGA 212 is used to interface with certain data acquisition system as described hereinafter. The auxiliary processor 214 may comprise any number of embedded (or general purpose) processors, including the PICmicro® family of microcontrollers available from MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY. The auxiliary processor 214 interfaces with and controls a variety of data input devices including, for example a touch sensitive panel 222, a keypad 224, and a scan key or trigger 226. The LCD controller 216 may comprise any number of available controllers including, for example, one of the available EPSON LCD controllers. As its name and connections suggest, the LCD controller 216 controls the display of images on an LCD display 220, such as any number of displays available from SHARP. The combination of the LCD 220 and the touch sensitive panel 222 is often referred to as a “touch screen.”
The PDT 200 may further include a plurality of communication links such as an 802.11 communication link 240, an IR communication link 242, a Bluetooth communication link 244, and a cellular communication link 246 for communication with a cellular network such as a network in accordance with the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The 802.11 communication link 240 interfaces with the CPU 202 via the main system bus. The IR communication link 242, and Bluetooth communication link 244 are connected to the CPU 202 via UART channels 206n. The cellular communication link 246 is connected to the CPU 202 via the DUART 210. Wired communication may be conducted via a UART, such as the UART 206e. Each of the communication links facilitates communication with a remote device and is principally used to transfer and receive data.
In use, the PDT 200 may be configured to activate a data acquisition system based on the actuation of a key on the keypad 224 (including the Trigger 226) or a touch on the touch panel 222. A variety of suitable data collection systems are available for integration into the PDT 200, for example an image signal generation system 250 and an RFID reader unit 260. The image generation system 250 operates in conjunction with the FPGA 212 to generate image frames which may either be stored as images or analyzed to extract data, such as bar code data, there from. Possible configurations of the FPGA 212 are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,947,612 incorporated herein by reference. The RFID reader unit 260 reads and extracts data from RF signals.
The image signal generating system 250 generally comprises a two dimensional solid state image sensor 252, available in such technologies as CCD, CMOS, and CID, for capturing an image containing data. e.g. an, image, a bar code or a signature. Two-dimensional solid state image sensors generally have a plurality of photo sensor picture elements (“pixels”) which are formed in a pattern including a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns of pixels. The image signal generating system 250 further includes an imaging optics (not shown) focusing an image onto an active surface of the image sensor 252. Image sensor 252 may be incorporated on an image sensor IC chip having disposed thereon image sensor control circuitry, image signal conditioning circuitry, and an analog-to-digital converter. FPGA 212 manages the capture and transfer of image data into memory 205n. Decoding may be performed by the CPU 202 or any suitable secondary processor. Examples of suitable image signal generation system 250 include an IMAGETEAM 5x00VGA/5x00MPX imaging module of the type available from Hand Held Products, assignee of the present application.
One use of the image signal generating system 250 is reading and interpreting bar codes such as bar code 275 on an item 270. In this mode, when trigger button 226 is actuated, the CPU 202 cause the appropriate control signals to be sent to the image sensor 252. In response thereto, the image sensor 252 outputs digital image data including (hopefully) an adequate representation of the bar code symbol 275. This data is acquired by the FPGA 212 where it is collected and subsequently transferred to memory 205n. In accordance with a decoding program (not specifically illustrated) an attempt may be made to decode the bar code represented in the captured digital image representation. The capture and decoding of image data may occur automatically in response to a trigger signal being generated, usually by activation of the trigger 226 or a pre-selected key on keypad 224. For example, the CPU 202 may be configured, typically through execution of a program resident in memory 205n, to continuously capture and decode bar code symbols represented therein until either a successful decode is completed or the trigger 226 is released. The cycle may also be terminated by timing out after a number of unsuccessful decode attempts.
In addition to having a decode mode of operation, the image signal generation system 250 may also be configured for an image capture mode of operation. In an image capture mode of operation, an electronic image representation is captured without attempting a decode. The captured electronic image representation may be one or more of (i) stored into a designated memory location of memory 205n, (ii) transmitted to an external spaced apart device, or (iii) displayed on LCD 220. This mode may be used to capture, for example an image of a signature or damage to a package.
The RFID reader unit 260 includes an RF oscillation and receiver circuit 262 and a data decoder 264. RFID reader unit 260 may be configured to read RF encoded data from a passive RFID tag, such as tag 277, which may be disposed on article 270. In such a case. RF oscillation and receiver circuit 262 transmits a carrier signal to the passive tag which in turn converts the carrier energy to voltage form and actuates a transponder (not shown) to transmit a radio signal representing the encoded tag data. RF oscillator and receiver circuit 262, in turn, receives the radio signal from the tag and converts the data into a digital format. Data decoder 264, typically including a low cost microcontroller IC chip, decodes the received radio signal information received by RF oscillator and receiver circuit 262 to decode the encoded identification data originally encoded into RFID tag 277.
RFID reader unit 260 may, for example, operate in a selective activation mode or in a continuous read operating mode. In a selective activation mode, RFID reader unit 260 broadcasts radio signals in an attempt to activate a tag or tags in its vicinity in response to an RFID trigger signal being received. In a continuous read mode, the RF oscillation and receiver circuit 262 continuously broadcasts radio signals in an attempt to actuate a tag or tags in proximity with unit automatically, without receiving a trigger signal. PDT 200 may be configured so that the CPU 202 recognizes a trigger signal under numerous conditions, such as: (1) actuation of the trigger 226; (2) receipt of an RFID trigger instruction; or (3) a determination that some other predetermined condition has been satisfied.
In a PDT, such as PDTs 1 and 200, ergonomics is a significant differentiator between completing products. Users of such devices may spend a significant amount of time each day with the unit in hand. With the awareness of injuries that may be associated with repetitive motion, and the desire to have a comfortable housing ergonomic considerations have become an essential factor in determining the shape of the micro computer housing. As a result, manufacturers have attempted to develop housings which combine ergonomic, functional, and aesthetic considerations. The ergonomic component of the desired micro computer has lead manufacturers to modify the shape of the housing to make it fit an operator's hand more comfortably. The present inventors have recognized a need to provide increased flexibility with the placement and shape of finger saddles to facilitate integration with current and future PDT designs.